Nailing machine



Oct. 30, 1951 A.. A. CAVANAUGH 2,573,540

I NAILING MACHINE Filed May 9, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. fl 4km? A. (Am/#10617 Arm/wins Oc 30, .1951 A. A. CAVANAUGH NAILING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 9. 1949 w v M m M T N m A W M v M 4 2 m. l /0 r vl/g 7 f 0 4/ 7 w. r In H /1 6 x A r5 /lM I fi M r ATM/ME)? Oct. 30, 1951 A. A. CAVANAUGH NAILING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 9. 1949 INVENTOR. Apr/m? A1 CAM/740617 WWW Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a nailing machine.

In prior nailing machines, difficulties of various kinds have been encountered. Thus, in some machines an excessive number of moving parts are involved. This is unsatisfactory inasmuch as the presence of numerous moving parts inevitably results in wear, mechanical failure or disalignment of the moving parts. When this occurs, it is of course necessary to stop the nailing op-. eration to repair the machine. It may even be necessary to return the machine to a shop for repair by a skilled mechanic.

In some of the prior machines, difficulty has also been encountered owing to the fact that nails become jammed in the delivery chute from the hopper to the nail driving mechanism or, even more seriously, become jammed in the nail driving passage thus causing breakage of parts of the machine.

It is an object of the present invention .to provide an improved form of nailing machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide -a nailing machine which involves a minimum number of moving parts.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a nail driving machine having a minimum number of moving parts and which is capable of dependable, steady deliveryof nails from a hopper to the nail driver.

It is a still further and particular object of the invention to provide a nail driving machine which involves a minimum number of moving parts, which i dependable in its operation and which creates little likelihood of jamming of the nail driving passage. 3

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

This application of a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 19,911, entitled Nailing Machine, filed April 9, 1948, and now abandoned. 7

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and is illustrated by way of example in the accompany- .ing drawings, in which? Fig. 1 is a view showing the nail driving element or mechanism in side elevation and the nail delivery element in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section through the nail driving mechanism, showing the nail driver or plunger in its normal, elevated position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3 but showing the nail driver in its lowermost position at the lower end of its stroke and in the;

act of driving and countersinking a nail.

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 1, showing the nail driving mechanism in rear elevation.

Figs. 6 and 7 are sections taken along the lines 66 and 1-1, respectively, of Fig. 1 showing details of the nail delivery element.

Figs. 8 and 9 are horizontal sections taken along the lines 88 and 9--9, respectively, of Fig. 3 showing details of construction of the nail driving mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, the nail driving machine is generally designated as I0 and it comprises a nail delivery mechanism or element II and a nail driving mechanism or element I2. The nail delivery element II comprises a hopper I3 having a T-shaped slot I4 at the bottom thereof and in communication with a U-shaped nail delivery chute I5 having a longitudinal slot I6 formed in the bottom thereof. A guard plate I! is provided, as illustrated, being hingedly supported at I8 for a purpose explained hereinafter, and as will be seen the lower end of the guard plate I! lies close to the nail slot I6. A U-shaped shingle nail guard I9 (see Fig. 6) is also provided, which straddles the nail slot I6, and forwardly and downwardly therefrom there is provided a deflector plate 25, the shingle nail guard I9 and deflector plate 25 serving purposes described hereinafter.

The deflector 25 is fixed to a frame bracket 26 by means of screws 21, and caster wheels 28 are mounted on the bracket 26 at the bottom thereof. A bin 29 also mounted on the bracket 26 is provided and is disposed beneath the nail chute I5 for a purpose explained hereinafter. Brackets or side plates 30 interconnect the nail delivery mechanism II and the nail: driving mechanism I2 and thus provide a, sturdy, rigid structure. A nail chute 3| is fixed at one end to the nail chute I5 in overlapping relationship therewith and, at its other end, is fixed to the nail driving mechanism I2. A longitudinal nail passage or slot 32 is formed in the chute 3|. Thus, the nail chute 3I and slot 32 provide a continuation of the nail chute I5 and slot I6. Fixed to and slanting upwardly from the nail driving mechanism I2 is a nail guide or guard member 33. Fixed thereto and extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom and spaced above the nail chute 3|, is a nail guard rod 34. The purpose. of the guard members 33 and 34 is explained hereinafter.

As thus far described, the machine operates as followsz A supply of finishing nails 35 of the type employed for nailing hardwood floors is maintained in the supply hopper I3. Agitation of the hopper I3, either manually by shaking it with the hand or automatically owing to vibration of the machine during the nailing operation, will cause nails to fall through the slot I 4. Inasmuch as the slot I4 is of T-shape, having a transverse portion and a longitudinal portion, it will be apparent hatn ilsfl l sned srerselhandl n ie tudinally oi the -hOpDQI'1t'W'lH failgtherethroughi; Any tendency of the nails to pile up and 'to pass down through the nai1 chute I5 too rapidly, is

prevented by means of the guard plate I1, which" lowerrend with a conical seating portion I9 opposes sufiicient resistance to the nails torlpzcerl.

vent an oversupply of nails from falling dgwnthe chute. Thus, the guard plate I'I, being-'hingedly" supported at P8, will pivot upwardly; anditesth te left as shown by the arrow, so as to allow a steady, even delivery of nails down the chute I5. In the' event that a shingle nailor other nail having a 29 larger head than desired should-be mixedwitm the supply of finishing-nails) the large head 05:: the nail will '-not-i pas s th rough the U-shaped gi-iardll9. The-operator, noting that nails are not being delivered below this point, will have :his atetention drawn to the dini'culty and may -remove the offending nail-manually, thus preventing-itspassage downwardly inte the-nail driving mech anismIZE- Naturally; aconsiderable proportion 01? nails;

nails are effectively removed by means-of the de flecton-plate 25F As; illustrated, the plate- 'd-iverges from then-ail =slotl (rand; will'thus deflectnails which-are notrid-ing in the'slot tdand will'fi deflect them toone side 5 or the other; causing 4 thel'n'to fall into the bin 29'.

As the 1 nails pass downwardly; through the; chute-3 I andits nail passage or slot 32; they will exhibit a tendency I to jump out; of the gslot 32 owingto vibration of the rnachiner; such nail's large diameter-terminating in ashoulder A2: and

nearer its ;lower-end with an -axial; ass,age 43 10f, smaller-diameten; A-plunger or -nail driver 44 is; reeiprocable within the ba reli lii such; driver" having ahead; 4 5 5 upper stem or shankportion 46 anda--lower shank or stem ll 'of smaller diameter;

and-having asliding -fitwith a passage 43.; The; barrelsjis' closed at its upper end by a' cap 48 secured thereto by'means of screws d9, andfa fiber washer 5flj is provided for-a purpose; explained hereinaft collar orlimit member 55 fixed'fto the'driver by" moans-of a-=snapring 55 and a C washer*51, as ii lustrated. An expansion spring 58 is compressed between :the C-washer-and theshoulder 42 and this qspring normal-ly serves'to hold-the driver :in 76 I The driver -;44' is;provided'; with -a-,70

its elevated position, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

At its lower end, the barrel 40, which is conveniently tapered as illustrated, is provided with an enlarged recess or passage 59. This recess is a continuation of the passage 43, and it is open at its lower end and is fitted with a cup Bl! having a base or bottom flange 6|. The cup 60 is yieldably held in place in the passage 59 by meansl i a nagg .Z ated in an. nnular groove 63 ,formed' in the ba-rrel. The :cup 69 is formed "at its upper end with a conical seat 64 in axial alignment with a nail aligning or nail set passage 65. The nail driver 44 is formed at its adapted to seat in the conical seat 64, and with a-nail-drivingmember or nail set II having a tasensor-seedlin The barrel 40 is also formed with a longitudinal 'groove or open passage 12 and the cap 48 with a corresponding recess 12a for reception of a lug l3 formedwonithe :collars552; 'Aakriockout plunger is:.'provided,i' being 'slidablyidisposed within 1 the; longitudinalrgrooveawg suchzrlmock -e out plunger- :being: received-F within an e opening; 15a zformed iinothe lug 'I3rand havingeav head J62 at-itsl upperend andfasatapered-ftip'. 'II EhlilZSflOWBrz end: A:tensionzspringialflxis ifiXBdi'fill-Ollfi: endite;v theshead z 16: and at its: othersendstoeaascrevcilflzc WhlflhgziS ifixedi to.,,tlre 1 barrels Thestendencyt-rot r the tension springs'llmv as is apparent; willubek tos drawrthaknockoutplunger il5 downwardly: How ever, the expansion springi-58aisia/imuch strongeri springthan.theitensioncspring :Ififiand ewilliinormally hold the nail driven-446izriits uppermosts position: andiutherefore throughfithe medium oti the: collar: 55;". lug; "l3 and'head- I6 the sp-ring 583 will also hold: F the: knockout plunger' I 5 m: its uppermost-position, as il hi-strated in-Fig;

A block is received Within a reoesstB -formed in-thebarrel 46'in alignment with the longitudi nal groove-l 2; being: fiied ta the :barrel means of "screws 86a: The-=block 85 is -for-med with a passage ----81 'to receive -the: knockout 1 plunger 153" Also seated in the recess zBG- 'and at the---rear=of the block- 85 -is a --stainless :steel--wearing plate =88, to the rear of whic'h is fo'rmed another recess 89 in which is seated a A bar magnet 9Ilhaving-- polessql and 92? V A nail deliverypassage93 is defined by the-- stainless steel plate B8 and by- =aslanting guide plate-94 'forthe-= purpose of guiding nails from the lower: end of "the chute -3 I into the passage 59 and thence intothe --nai=l -set passage 555 It will be'seen: that thelower end orthe chute 3| is spaced a short distance, slightly greater-- than the diameterof the knockout plunger--l5, from the'stainless steelplate' 88A The device thus describedpperatesas"follows:-

Nails are deliveredtothe lower endof th'e chute -3I in the manner described herei-naboveq Refer-'1 ringto Fig.3, it will be seen-that a;nai1 is located in the nail set passage 65 with its'headiupper mostand its ti-plowermost;{readiness-to be driven and set into a floorr At this instant; it-'is;

important to prevent a-secondnail from dropping":

down into thepassage 59; assuch eventgwould cause jamming of the machine when the nail set TI descends. This effectivelypreventedjoy means offthe bar magnet wf which has *,one ,of

its poles 9ldisposed'above thelower-end of the nailjchute 3| andits; other; pole 92 fdisppsed,

therebelow.- It will thus be apparent that thebar magnet which can easily; be made sufliciently powerful, will hold the-nailtfirmly in ,the p9s i 'tionshowrr in Fig} 3; thus preventing it "from falling downwardly and damagingthe machine. It also holds-the other nails inchute 3!;{1

It is further important, when a nail hasb'een driven and set as illustrated'in Fig. 4, that another nail be delivered to the nailset passage 65 at the proper moment. This is effectively accomplished by means of the knockout plunger fi and the tension spring 18; As mentioned'the tension spring 18 acts to draw-the knockout plunger l5 downwardly, but it is a considerably weaker spring than the expansion spring 58. Accordingly, whenthe head'45 of the nail-driver 44 is struck by a hammer, the nail driver will descend very rapidly. However, the only forces acting on the plunger T5 are gravity and the relatively weak tension of spring 18, which will be free to draw the knockout plunger 15 downwardly. The downward travel of the knockout plunger will be much slower than that of the driver 44. Accordingly, by the time the knockout plunger 15 passes downwardly through the passage 81 formed in the block 85 and contacts the head of the nail held by the magnet, the conical seating portion of the driver 44 will be seated in the conical seat 64. Thus, as'illustrated in Fig. 4, a nail disengaged from the magnet 90 and knocked downwardly by the knockout plunger 15, will merely fall through the nail passage 93 into the passage 59 and will rest in the position illustrated without in any way causing jamming of or damage to the machine. When the driver returns to its rest position, the nail shown in passage 59 in Fig. 4 will drop into the nail set passage 65. Also, the knockout plunger will return to its rest position, thus clearing the end of the chute 3| to allow another nail to drop from the chute and be held in position by the magnet 90.

It the event that a nail of considerably greater length than average is delivered to the machine, it will be automatically ejected by means of the deflector plate 94. Thus, referring to Fig. 3, it will be evident that, as each nail descends toward the bottom of the nail chute 3|, its head will be held firmly in contact with the chute by means of the guard member 33. Thus the lower end of a long nail will contact the upper end of the deflector plate 94 and will be held away from the nail passage 93. When the knockout plunger 75 descends, it will strike the head of the long nail and will thus eject it from the machine. The machine, of course, will miss a nail but such is not of substantial importance as compared with jammin of the machine and/or damage to the nail set which might result from delivery of a long nail to the nail set passage 65.

A further important operating feature of the machine is that, when the driver 44 descends under the blow of a hammer, it limits at the bottom by engagement of its conical seating portion I9 with the conical seat 64. Thus vibration is reduced, likelihood of damage to the machine is lessened and accuracy is increased. On the upstroke of the driver, it limits against the fiber washer 50, which also reduces vibration, etc.

It will thus be apparent that a nail driving machine ha been provided which satisfies the objects set forth hereinabove. Thus, the machine involves a minimum of moving parts, the only moving parts being the nail driver 44 and the knockout plunger 15. Various means are provided to insure proper delivery of nails to the nail driving mechanism, such, for example, as the guard plate I9 and the deflector plate 25; also the guard members 33 and 34. Magnetic means is provided and is so located as to hold one nail at the bottom 'of an'd free of the nail delivery chute in proper position for delivery to the nail set passage, while another nail is located in the nail set passage to be driven into a floor. Means is provided in the form of the knockout plunger 15 and tension spring 18 to insure the delivery of a nail each time that one is needed and at the proper instant to avoid jamming of the machine. Asxnoted, the nail driver 44 limits at the bottom rather than at the top, which is desirable for the reasons stated. Also, inasmuch as the cup 60 is a removable wearing element, and a plentiful supplyof the, same may be kept on hand, wear thereof 'is-of'relatively minor importancePStill changes may be made in its construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A nail driving machine comprising a barrel having an axial passage formed therethrough, a nail driver mounted for reciprocation in said passage, nail set means including a nail set passage at the lower end of said barrel, said nail set passage being in axial alignment with said driver, a spring normally elevating said driver and holding it away from said nail set passage, a chute for feeding nails by gravity to said nail set passage, the lower end of said chute being in communication with said nail set passage, magnetic means operable to hold the lowermost nail in said nail chute away from said nail set passage, knockout means including a spring for operating the same, said sprin being substantially weaker than the spring for elevating said driver, said knockout means being operable to detach a nail from said magnetic means for delivery thereof to said nail set passage, means interconnecting said driver and knockout means normally operable to inactivate the latter and to hold the same out of contact with said lowermost nail, said interconnecting means being operable to cause operation of said knockout means in timed relation to reciprocation of said plunger.

2. A nail driving machine comprising a barrel having an axial passage therethrough, a nail driver mounted for reciprocation within said passage, removable nail set mean seated in the lower end of said passage, said nail set means including a nail set passage in axial alignment with said driver, an expansion spring normally operable to elevate said driver and hold the same away from said nail set passage, a chute for feeding nails by gravity to said nail set passage, the lower end of said chute being in communication with said nail set passage, magnetic means disposed adjacent to the lower end of said chute operable to hold the lowermost nail therein away from said nail set passage, a nail knockout plunger in alignment with said lowermost nail and operable to detach the same from said magnet for delivery thereof to said nail set passage, a tension spring for operating said knockout plunger, and means interconnecting said nail driver and knockout plunger normally operable to elevate said plunger and hold the same away from said lowermost nail but releasing the same when said nail driver is 

